This is a discussion on Sold the STI, got a S60 R within the Comparison: WRX vs World forums, part of the Community - Meet other Enthusiasts category; Well guys, after several years of ownership with the sti (that coming after 2yrs of owning a modded wrx) I ...

Sold the STI, got a S60 R

Well guys, after several years of ownership with the sti (that coming after 2yrs of owning a modded wrx) I have an announcement......I sold my sti last week. My wife had been nagging me about the wing and since we bought our new house she was wanting me to get something more "adult like." I picked up a Volvo S60R, the car is sweet. Red, sport kit, premium, climate, here are my impressions after one week vs my sti:

Obviously the car is much more refined, the sweet smell of leather, the looks of the car itself! She can't say the car is not adult looking now.

Driver seat is extremely comfortable, each remote can adjust to different people driving it (although my wife does not drive a stick :-)

6-speed is very smooth, the shifter is very nice looking. Gearing is much longer, I can easily do 60 in 2nd vs 3rd in the sti . Car is at 2K in 6th at 60.
Clutch took some getting used to, much softer than the sti, release point is higher.

Brakes are great (Brembo's like the sti but with "R" on them). Stops on a dime, no fade.

Car has three active chassis settings (comfort, sport, advanced) and you can really tell the difference when driving the car hard in advanced vs comfort). Even in advanced the ride is not as hard as in the sti. But the compromise is that the sti handled better.

Stereo---13 speaker surround sound, my subaru system sucked

Tires---18" pegasus wheels with Pirelli tires, the car actually handles suprisingly well given its 400lbs heavier than the sti. Tires are not as sticky as the sti's.

The car has traction control/anti-skid that you can adjust or turn off altogether for launching the car.

Looks--The car looks sweet, check one out with the sport package and you'll see.

The car has all these other nice features like one-touch sunroof, lights that come on/off automatically, wipers on/off automatically, fog lights, 1 touch-auto window up/down on both driver and pax.

Sound-The car is soooooo quiet inside compared to the sti, the ride is very smooth.

Engine-Power and torque come on strong around 1800rpm so slightly sooner than the sti and remain strong up through 5500-6000 rpms. Power is very smooth and very little if any lag. Twin-intercoolers. The sti seems faster to me but I think this car pulls harder on the highway due to the gearing. I have not been able to find any stats on the car thus far but I'd be interested in the trap speed if anyone's seen one because it feels faster on the highway (hence I suspect a pretty high trap mph-100+). It would definitely smoke my old wrx so it has to be somewhere between the low 14's and high 13's.

I'll miss the handling, pure power of the sti but I do have to admit that I really like my new Volvo thus far. As for Subaru's, I am not done, I'm trying to talk my wife into swapping out her outback for a Legacy GT (since they are soooo discounted, plus we have an incentive from Subaru beyond best price for some issues she had with her outback).

Its sad your wife made you loose the STI, but the volvo sounds sick. I really like the look of them, but never knew to much about em. Your write up about the volvo sounds like your really satisfied with it, good luck. Sad you had to let the STI go, if I ever get married and she said that, she'd be gone (jk)
I remember my parents had the s70 and the stupidest things on that car gave them problems like the power seating, headlight bulbs, doors not opening, kinda reminded me of the vw reliability.
Uncle Lewie

Its sad your wife made you loose the STI, but the volvo sounds sick. I really like the look of them, but never knew to much about em. Your write up about the volvo sounds like your really satisfied with it, good luck. Sad you had to let the STI go, if I ever get married and she said that, she'd be gone (jk)
I remember my parents had the s70 and the stupidest things on that car gave them problems like the power seating, headlight bulbs, doors not opening, kinda reminded me of the vw reliability.
Uncle Lewie

As much as I'd like to blame her for it, I was due for a new car.....I rarely keep a car more than 2 years and once the car gets near the end of the warranty I usually dump it (I know, I know, the Subaru will go 100K easy with probably no issues) but its just me. I got rid of my wrx around 33k too. I think I get it from my dad (who is even worse), he usually swaps out his cars several times a year.....but he's in the high end swap market (mercs, bmw, maserati, audi S8, etc)....whereas I don't quite have the cash to be doing that several times a year. I'll tell you though, this new car is like having a M3, the car is totally plush.

As much as I'd like to blame her for it, I was due for a new car.....I rarely keep a car more than 2 years and once the car gets near the end of the warranty I usually dump it (I know, I know, the Subaru will go 100K easy with probably no issues) but its just me. I got rid of my wrx around 33k too. I think I get it from my dad (who is even worse), he usually swaps out his cars several times a year.....but he's in the high end swap market (mercs, bmw, maserati, audi S8, etc)....whereas I don't quite have the cash to be doing that several times a year. I'll tell you though, this new car is like having a M3, the car is totally plush.

Nah man im just joking about blaming the significant other. Im kinda the way you are as well, I have owned 3 cars and Im only 20. My pops is like you and your dad, he will buy a car, put around 45k on it or 2 years is up and the car is gone. Kinda dumb sometimes in my opinion the cars hes gotten rid of (540i with only 35k on it) and also a nice m3 he got rid of I wish he woulda kept for me, hahaa.
Good luck with the volvo. Keep us posted on how you are enjoying it.
Uncle Lewie

Nah man im just joking about blaming the significant other. Im kinda the way you are as well, I have owned 3 cars and Im only 20. My pops is like you and your dad, he will buy a car, put around 45k on it or 2 years is up and the car is gone. Kinda dumb sometimes in my opinion the cars hes gotten rid of (540i with only 35k on it) and also a nice m3 he got rid of I wish he woulda kept for me, hahaa.
Good luck with the volvo. Keep us posted on how you are enjoying it.
Uncle Lewie

Yea, I wonder how my dad keeps any money in the bank as much as he swaps (unless he's got a real good hook up in NC that gives him great pricing), you figure the 1st year depreciation alone is ugly to eat unless he just gets some sort of special treatment because he's been buying from these guys for the past 25 yrs. He doesn't even make it to 15k on most of them. At one point a year ago he had two SL500's and a maserati cambiocorsa. Got rid of the maserati and eventually the one SL that didn't have the a/c seats. Ended up getting rid of that for a Carrera 4, then got an S4 convertible, then an A8, then a S8....oh yea, and he got a MDX just for the dog to go around in. What can I say, he likes his cars. I'm sure the dealer loves him.......I wish he would get a 65 AMG, the maserati was great to drive but that would be HOT!

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